The Shaking Off of Burdens

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Abstract

Professor Robert Birley delivers an annual memorial lecture on T.B. Davie at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He notes that Mr. Davie served as vice-chancellor for the college and is most noted for his adherence to the principles of academic freedom and his stand against apartheid. Birley believes that this annual memorial is absolutely necessary to maintain Davie's inspirational legacy and continue the fight for academic freedom . He brings up the politics of slaves versus the free, drawing on the philosophies of Aristotle, Plato, and others to describe examples. He uses Aristotle's writings to draw parallels between Aristotle's time and today.